Wisconsin
Trophy bucks--everywhere.
The state's Keith Warnke hopes Badger State hunters will at least match last fall's kill, when they registered 519,388 whitetails. That harvest, the state's second highest ever, was largely due to Earn-A-Buck restrictions (which require hunters to register an antlerless deer before killing a buck) in over 20 management units.

"While EAB regulations will be lifted for this fall, those units are still areas of concern, population-wise," Warnke notes. "We're hoping that hunters will continue to aggressively harvest does."

With a pre-hunt herd estimated at over 1.5 million animals, opportunity shouldn't be hard to come by in the Badger State. "Our big bucks come from the same place they've always come from--everywhere," says Warnke.

And he is only partly joking, as widespread private QDM practices are producing whoppers in previous sleeper spots such as the central counties. The trophy strongholds--southwestern and northern counties--will continue to shine. Mild winters have been easy on Northwoods bucks, but southern Wisconsin's ag-country grows 'em bigger younger.

Michigan
For pubic land, hunters should head to the UP.
The Wolverine State continues to be a Midwestern whitetail stronghold, but the herd may be too big for its britches. "For the last several years our goal has been a smaller deer herd," says the state's Rod Clute. "We're achieving that in the northern Lower Peninsula and the Upper Peninsula. But in southern Michigan we can barely keep up with reproduction.

"Those southern counties now represent 50 percent of our annual harvest and of our deer population. They also grow some of the biggest bucks, thanks to prime agriculture, easy winters and a growing number of defacto sanctuaries created by suburbs and other development," he says.

Unfortunately, access remains the sticking point for hunters wanting a shot at southern deer: 97 percent of the land is privately owned. For more public ground, Clute directs hunters to the Northern Lower and the UP counties in the Lake Superior watershed for the best big-buck opportunity.

"In the UP specifically, a good two-thirds of the land is public. It takes longer to grow a big deer there, but some achieve that 31?2-year-old class that translates into nice antler growth." Aggressive antlerless harvests are being used to control population densities.

Missouri
The Ozarks are giving up more and more trophies.
Antler-point restrictions continue for the second year in a 29-county area, along with liberal antlerless harvests. The new regulations were responsible for an increased doe harvest and a 66 percent decline in the yearling buck kill from 2003.

State biologist Lonnie Hansen was pleased with those numbers. "Now the interesting component will be what happens in the next few years," he says. "We're hoping for a reduction in the overall herd and a better mature buck component." If that occurs, watch the Show-Me Big Bucks Record Book swell even bigger, as this habitat is ripe for growing bucks with world-class antlers.

But don't ignore southern Missouri, Hansen advises. "This has been our traditional deer habitat and consequently received the most pressure. Now that big bucks are being shot in northern counties, more hunters are heading north, so we're seeing more trophies come from the Ozarks lately."

Since the south hosts the Mark Twain National Forest and other state wildlife areas, this is important for hunters with access difficulties. But Hansen did caution hunters to check regulations when hunting state conservation areas: "We've eliminated antlerless permits on some public spots to reduce pressure and allow deer numbers to rebound.

Iowa
Southern Iowa remains the trophy hot spot.
Not only does this trophy destination continue to produce world-class deer, Hawkeye hunters are notching impressive harvests. "We had a record kill last year, as hunters shot 194,512 whitetails," says state biologist Willie Suchy. "We're predicting a slight decrease this fall. An aggressive antlerless harvest last year dropped deer numbers about 10 percent, particularly in northern and western counties. Deer populations in eastern and southern Iowa appear stable. We'll continue to offer additional opportunities to take antlerless deer."

To seek one of Iowa's legendary giants, Suchy points to zones 4, 5 and 6 in southern Iowa, Zone 9 (northeastern) and Zone 3 (western) as the traditional go-to spots. For nonresidents seeking public land, however, the nod has to go to Zone 9, where state forests and wildlife areas offer some fine hunting.